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Intact burials containing a collection of beautiful jewellery have been discovered by the joint Egyptian-American South Asasif Conservation Project in a tomb located near the Twenty-fifth Dynasty Tomb of Karabasken (TT391). This is the first Middle Kingdom burial to be found in the area. It appears to have been used for several generations of the same family, and contains 11 burials for men, women, and children dating from the Twelfth Dynasty to the beginning of the Thirteenth Dynasty. Most of the burials had been badly damaged by flooding, which destroyed the timber coffins and linen wrappings, but well-preserved jewellery, including necklaces, bracelets, and rings survived, together with brass mirrors, a small statue, and scarab amulets.
More Middle Kingdom finds have been uncovered by the Asyut Project from the Universities of Sohag and Berlin. During cleaning work in the tomb of a Twelfth Dynasty provincial governor Djefaihapy I (reign of Senusret I), a second chamber was discovered, containing the burial of his daughter Idy, a priestess of Hathor who died around the age of 40. The chamber, which had been looted in antiquity, contained Idy’s two well preserved polychrome wooden coffins, decorated with beautifully painted images and Coffin Texts. Her skeletal remains show evidence of a congenital defect of the foot. Surviving grave goods included wooden figurines, a dagger, food offerings, and her inscribed canopic chest.
Text: Sarah Griffiths / All images: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, unless otherwise stated
